Defence Budget 2018-19 : Allocate 12.10 percent of the total Central Government expenditure

Union Budget for the financial year 2018-19, presented by the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley in the Parliament today, envisaged a total outlay of Rs. 24,42,213 crore. Out of this, Rs 2,95,511.41 crore has been earmarked for Defence. This accounts for 12.10 percent of the total Central Government expenditure for the year 2018-19.

The allocation of Rs. 2,95,511.41 crore represents a growth of 7.81 percent over Budget Estimates (Rs. 2,74,114.12 crore) and 5.91 percent over Revised Estimates (Rs. 2,79,003.85 crore), respectively for the financial year 2017-18.

Out of Rs. 2,95,511.41 crore allocated for the financial year 2018-19, Rs. 1,95,947.55 crore has been allocated for Revenue (Net) expenditure and Rs. 99,563.86 crore for Capital expenditure for the Defence Services and the Organizations/ Departments under Ministry of Defence. The amount of Rs. 99,563.86 crore, allocated for Capital expenditure, includes modernization related expenditure. The Capital allocation for Ministry of Defence under BE 2018-19 is 33.1 percent of the total Central Government Expenditure on Capital Account, which is Rs 3,00,441 crore.

For Defence Pension, which is over and above the outlay mentioned above, an amount of Rs. 1,08,853.30 crore has been provided in BE 2018-19. This is 26.60 percent above the BE 2017-18 of Rs. 85,740 crore and 14.26 percent over RE 2017-18 of Rs. 95,000 crore.

The approval for the construction of Sela pass has given further impetus to the Defence preparedness.